<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>time, curious time by inlovewithimpossibility</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26323183">time, curious time</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/inlovewithimpossibility/pseuds/inlovewithimpossibility'>inlovewithimpossibility</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Arrow (TV 2012)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Abstract, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff, Internal Monologue, Internal narrative, Journey</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-20 09:07:36</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,767</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26323183</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/inlovewithimpossibility/pseuds/inlovewithimpossibility</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>oliver queen, 27. the first suit he’s worn in five years is starchy and uncomfortable. in his head; the way he’s missed thea’s laugh. in his head; plotting his next hood mission. in his head; wondering whether his life will ever be normal again.</p><p>felicity smoak, 23. missing the comfort of combat boots and cargo pants. in her head; her newest project at work. in her head; how to avoid calling her mother back. in her head; wondering whether these monotonous days are what she has to look forward to forever.</p><p> </p><p>[an abstract look into oliver and felicity's minds over the course of their relationship]</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Oliver Queen/Felicity Smoak</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>116</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>time, curious time</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is a slightly odd one, certainly out there, but it was a fun way of challenging myself and telling a story in a different way. I sincerely hope you enjoy! If you do, and you're so inclined, let me know by leaving a kudos and/or comment, they make my day!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  
</p><p> </p><hr/><p>oliver queen, 27. the first suit he’s worn in five years is starchy and uncomfortable. in his head; the way he’s missed thea’s laugh. in his head; plotting his next hood mission. in his head; wondering whether his life will ever be normal again.</p><p>felicity smoak, 23. missing the comfort of combat boots and cargo pants. in her head; her newest project at work. in her head; how to avoid calling her mother back. in her head; wondering whether these monotonous days are what she has to look forward to forever.</p><p>oliver queen, 28. his new mask is comfortable and he feels safer in his vigilante persona as he runs through the streets. in his head; trying to stay one step ahead of slade. in his head; keeping his secret safe from his family whilst also protecting them. in his head; wondering if this mission will ever end and he’ll be able to indulge the thoughts a particular blonde partner of his elicits within him.</p><p>felicity smoak, 24. seriously regretting her decision to add so many heels to her wardrobe when she spends half her time in a slippery, freezing abandoned foundry. in her head; thinking about asking diggle if he’s up for sushi for dinner. in her head; hoping she won’t have another nightmare and the dollmaker or the count when she finally falls asleep tonight. in her head; wondering if she’ll ever get over the way her stomach flutters when oliver smiles one of his rare smiles at her.</p><p>oliver queen, 29. heartbroken over how painful it is to become an orphan before your time and desperately trying to stay afloat. in his head; protecting thea at all costs. in his head; planning extra patrols to ensure that he’s always busy. in his head; wondering if it’ll ever get less painful to see the way felicity’s special smiles are no longer only directed at him.</p><p>felicity smoak, 25. curled up on the couch for the third day in a row, eating takeout that diggle drops round as she drowns in the completely empty feeling within her gut. in her head; the image of oliver’s body falling to the ground under ra’s sword. in her head; trying not to cry at the thought of going to sleep and having to face another day without oliver tomorrow. in her head; wondering if the feeling of pain and loss and heartbreak will ever diminish even slightly.</p><p>oliver queen, 30. properly relaxed for the first time in seven years, laying in a cabana in postiano with the most beautiful woman in the world next to him in the most ridiculously attractive bikini he’s ever seen. in his head; whether he’s hungry enough to move and leave this utter bliss, even just for a moment. in his head; all the places in their hotel room he still wants to bend felicity over before they move onto the next stop on their road trip. in his head; marveling at the fact that they’ve made it here and how utterly happy he is.</p><p>felicity smoak, 26. feeling as if the glass ceilings of suburbia are closing in on her as she slips away from oliver yet again to help the team with their latest mission against the gang starling city news have dubbed ‘the ghosts’. in her head; feeling guilty about the white lies she’s been telling over. in her head; hoping that oliver is planning on making that incredible chicken tonight and how she could thank him with that new lingerie she bought at the store last week. in her head; wondering how long this bliss will last with her new double life.</p><p>oliver queen, 30. feeling as if a huge bombshell has just been dropped on his head, ricocheting through his entire life as the engagement ring he meant to give felicity months ago burns a hole in his pocket. in his head; meticulously planning their next move against damien darhk. in his head; thinking of calling felicity to check to see if she ate the healthy lunch he packed her for work. in his head; wondering how on earth he’s supposed to keep living his life with the huge secret that is william hanging over him.</p><p>felicity smoak, 26. always shivering in her wheelchair, there’s something about her lack of mobility that seemingly makes it impossible for her to reach a comfortable temperature. in her head; stressing about her presentation coming up at work. in her head; trying to figure out how she can be properly useful to the team. in her head; feeling guilty about how happy the ring on her finger makes her when she feels like such a burden.</p><p>oliver queen, 31. the basement bedroom in the bunker is cold and he tries to force the memories of the island away as he struggles to sleep without felicity by his side. in his head; when he can next call john and talk through what’s been happening in star city to his best friend. in his head; all the memos thea has sent him from the mayor’s office that seriously need his attention. in his head; wondering whether he’ll ever feel whole again without felicity by his side.</p><p>felicity smoak, 27. eating dinner at a fancy restaurant with a man who is perfect in every way apart from one thing… he’s not the one she truly wants. in her head; planning her next lie to billy so that she can slip away to help oliver in the bunker. in her head; figuring out whether she truly wants to start researching how to go ahead with her start up. in her head; wondering if oliver will ever learn the lessons he needs to so that they can fully be together and she can stop having to pretend that she’s okay without him.</p><p>oliver queen, 32. rushing around from place to place, trying to be everything to everyone, is exhausting and he’s just so <em>so </em>tired. in his head; looking forward to that blissful hour once william goes to sleep and he can call felicity as she sits at thea’s bedside. in his head; praying that his sister will wake up and smile that cheeky grin at him one day soon. in his head; wondering if parenting ever feels like more than this constant wave pulling you under as you desperately try to keep everything afloat.</p><p>felicity smoak, 28. unable to stop her new habit of twisting her wedding ring around on her finger whenever she’s bored or nervous or just wants to remember how blessed she is to lead the life she does. in her head; wishing that the algorithm untangling the latest of cayden james’ plots would just work that little bit faster. in her head; reminding herself to get home when william’s school lets out so that she can help him with his latest math project as she promised. in her head; wondering when the ball is going to drop, their life is so wonderful and they’re balancing everything tenuously but incredibly.</p><p>oliver queen, 33. getting used to falling asleep to the sound of clanging against metal bars and whispers between cellmates answered by shouts of the guards as he clings to the photo of his wife and child. in his head; praying that felicity and william are safe wherever it is that witness protection has sent them. in his head; counting down the days until diggle’s next visit so that he can get an update to confirm that. in his head; stay alive, stay alive, stay alive.</p><p>felicity smoak, 29. the gun anatoly handed her feels heavy in her hand as she makes her way through the police station towards the room she knows diaz is being held in. in her head; the way the pure, unadulterated anger flows through her at the thought of what this man has put her through, her husband through, her <em>child </em>through. in her head; hope that one day soon she will get to see her love in the flesh without a sheet of glass between them. in her head; wondering how oliver copes with the almost thrill that is rushing through her at the thought of possibly ending this all tonight.</p><p>oliver queen, 33. baffled at the concept that even five years after they’re both long gone, his parents still find ways to surprise him. in his head; praying that he can get emiko to come around so that the guilt he feels at his father’s actions might finally diminish a little. in his head; utter joy whenever he remembers that he’s on his way to becoming a father for the second time. in his head; wondering if this little one will be the spitting image of their mother like he’s always prayed and how well he hopes william will get on with his baby sibling.</p><p>felicity smoak, 30. unable to stop crying whenever she sees oliver hold their baby girl, their mia, as this sense of peace finally <em>finally </em>settles over her. in her head; finalizing the details of their plan to start getting at least partial custody of william back. in her head; looking forward to the bottle of wine she knows oliver already has chilling in the fridge once mia goes down tonight. in her head; wondering if this feeling of total joy and serenity can indeed last forever.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>oliver queen, 49. smiling over at john as he watches their kids run around the yard together at their weekly family dinner. in his head; trying to ignore the protective instinct that flares up at the sight of mia flirting with connor. in his head; appreciating how utterly stunning felicity looks in the green dress she’s donned for the evening. in his head; wondering how on earth he grew so lucky as to live as a life as wonderful as he does with four kids he adores and a wife beyond compare. happy.</p><p>felicity smoak, 45. laughing with a shake of her head as she watches the way lucas and ada are competing with sara and jj in a race despite the twins being almost twice her youngest children’s size. in her head; reminding herself to call william later to see how his honeymoon is going and remind him to leave zoe and team arrow business alone whilst he’s there. in her head; how much she’s looking forward to enjoying the food oliver’s grilling now and then enjoying <em>oliver </em>later. in her head; still amazed at the fact that this is their life, free of stress and the threats that used to define their life. happy.</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>